Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Softball Announces 2008 Schedule
December 03, 2007 | Softball
PRINCETON -- Eight 2007 NCAA tournament teams highlight Princeton's 2008 softball slate as announced by first-year head coach Trina Salcido.
Seven of those postseason teams are among Princeton's annually challenging pre-conference slate. The Tigers will begin their season in a tournament at George Mason Feb. 29-Mar. 2 against Niagara, Quinnipiac and George Mason.
The following week, Princeton will return to North Carolina's Tar Heel Invitational where it will encounter the first of those eight NCAA teams in host UNC Mar. 8. Also on Princeton's docket that weekend will be Lafayette, South Carolina-Upstate and James Madison.
Other than 2007 Ivy League champion Harvard, which Princeton will host Mar. 30, the rest of the NCAA teams from last spring's bracket can be found on the spring trip schedule, which sends the Tigers to California as it did in 2006.
"I am really looking forward to the pre-conference schedule we have put together. We always have great teams on our spring break schedule, and to have teams like Oklahoma and California that have won national championships in recent years will show us how we stack up against some of the best teams in the country," Salcido said.
Princeton will start at Sacramento State's Capital Classic to face the host Hornets, Colorado State and 2007 NCAA teams California, Cal Poly and Oklahoma. After a midweek doubleheader at Pacific, another postseason team, Princeton will visit Stanford for a tournament that includes East Carolina and Wisconsin in addition to NCAA teams in BYU and the host Cardinal.
The first of Princeton's six home dates is Mar. 29 against Dartmouth with the Crimson coming to campus the following day. Princeton will then head on the road against Yale and Brown the following weekend before hosting a midweek doubleheader with Rutgers Apr. 9.
The Ivy South schedule will begin Apr. 12-13 at Columbia with the Tigers then heading to Villanova Apr. 17 for a twinbill. Penn will come to 1895 Field Apr. 19-20 before the Tigers face Lehigh in their final midweek game Apr. 22 in Bethlehem, Pa. The regular season will conclude Apr. 25 and 27 with a home-and-home series against Cornell.
"Last year was an example of how past success doesn't count for any wins when the new season starts," Salcido said. "We will be using that as motivation to earn our way back to the top of the Ivy League, and we have the kind of players returning and joining the team that can make it happen for us."
A format which began last year, the Ivy League has been split into two four-team divisions, with Princeton facing Columbia, Cornell and Penn four times each. The home and away schedules within the league have been kept the same this year to match the Ivy baseball schedules.
The winner of the two divisions, Ivy North and Ivy South, will meet at the site of the team with the better record May 3-4 to decide the Ivy League champion and the winner of the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Last year, Harvard hosted and swept Penn for the postseason berth.